Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? ² How long must I plan what to do in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will those who hate me rise above me?

³ Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death. ⁴ Or the one who hates me will say, “I have power over him.” And those who hate me will be happy when I am shaken.

⁵ But I have trusted in Your loving-kindness. My heart will be full of joy because You will save me. ⁶ I will sing to the Lord, because He has been good to me.

Judah to Be Saved

12 The Word of the Lord about Israel:

The Lord, Who spread out the heavens, who put the earth in its place, and made the spirit of man within him says this about Israel: ² “I am going to make Jerusalem like a cup that makes all the people around it seem to be drunk. Judah will be shut in by armies as well as Jerusalem. ³ On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the people. All who lift it will be hurt. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. ⁴ On that day,” says the Lord, “I will put fear in every horse, and make the horsemen crazy. But I will watch over the people of Judah, while I make every horse of the nations blind. ⁵ Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong because of the Lord of All, their God.’ ⁶ On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a pot of fire among pieces of wood, like fire among cut grain. They will destroy all the people around them, on the right and on the left. And the people of Jerusalem will again live on their own land in Jerusalem. ⁷ The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the shining-greatness of the family of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah. ⁸ On that day the Lord will fight for the people of Jerusalem. The one who is weak among them on that day will be like David. And the family of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord leading them. ⁹ On that day I will destroy every nation that comes against Jerusalem.

Sorrow in Jerusalem

¹⁰ “I will pour out the Spirit of loving-favor and prayer on the family of David and on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look on Him Whose side they cut. They will cry in sorrow for Him, as one cries for an only son. They will cry much over Him, like those who have lost their first-born son. ¹¹ On that day there will be much crying in Jerusalem, like the cries of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will be filled with sorrow, each family by itself. The families of David and their wives, and the family of Nathan and their wives, will each be filled with sorrow. ¹³ The family of Levi and their wives will cry in sorrow, and the family of the Shimeites and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the families that are left, and their wives.

False Gods and False Preachers

13 “On that day a well of water will be opened for the family of David and for the people of Jerusalem to make them clean from their sin.

It Will Be Hard for Those Who Believe

⁹ “Watch out for yourselves. They will take you to the courts. In the places of worship they will beat you. You will be taken in front of rulers and in front of kings because of Me. You will be there to tell them about Me. ¹⁰ The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.

¹¹ “When you are put into their hands, do not be afraid of what you are to say or how you are to say it. Whatever is given to you to say at that time, say it. It will not be you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit. ¹² A brother will hand over a brother to death. A father will hand over his son. Children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by all people because of Me. But he who stays true to the end will be saved.

Days of Trouble and Pain and Sorrow

¹⁴ “You will see a very sinful man-made god standing in the house of God where it has no right to stand. Then those in the country of Judea should run to the mountains. It was spoken of by the early preacher Daniel. ^(A) The one who reads this should understand. ¹⁵ He that is on the top of the house should not take the time to get anything out of his house. ¹⁶ He that is in the field should not go back to get his coat. ¹⁷ It will be hard for women who will soon be mothers. It will be hard for those feeding babies in those days! ¹⁸ Pray that it will not be during the winter. ¹⁹ In those days there will be much trouble and pain and sorrow. It has never been this bad from the beginning of time and never will be again. ²⁰ If the Lord had not made those days short, no life would have been saved. Because of God’s people whom He has chosen, He made the days short.

The False Religious Teachers

²¹ “If anyone says to you, ‘See! Here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. ²² Some will come who will say they are Christ. False preachers will come. These people will do special things for people to see. They will do surprising things, so that if it can be, God’s people will be led to believe something wrong. ²³ See! I have told you about these things before they happen.